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Environmental and Social Management Frameworkdevelopment activities. As such consultation becomes a two way transfer ofinformation or joint discussion between project staff and the project affectedpopulation (APs). Consultation provides some of the detail that planners cannotor may not foresee. For example, land acquisition and displacement oftengenerate a wide spectrum of impacts, even within the same project. Similarly,gender discrimination may easily be overlooked if not explicitly embedded both inthe public consultation and the monitoring process of a given project.Public consultation is also a viable instrument to addressing AP’s anxieties and tosecure their support. Communities of the proposed project may be anxious thatthey will lose their property or livelihoods due to the land acquisition or activitiesthat may hamper their production (e.g. fisher folk may lose income as catches willdiminish due to increased sedimentation rates in the fishing grounds, resultingfrom ill-managed spoil disposal). Participation in planning and managing theproject activities might help to reduce such fears and will give the consultedpersons equally the opportunity to participate in key decisions. Thus they will bothunderstand and support better the proposed measures, particularly when viableincome alternatives can be offered. In other word, a frequent Public Consultationthat will give due account to the concerns and perceptions of the affectedpersons will be the best way in creating a feeling of ownership among the people,particularly when they gain the confidence that their concerns and suggestionsforwarded are taken into consideration in the design and the construction. Onlythen the local communities will collaborate and support the beneficial aspects andmeasures of the project(s).In addition, local people must receive adequate feedback for imposed correctivemeasures: One of the effective mechanisms of continued consultation with theproject communities also could be public audit to conduct at a regular intervalduring implementation and operation so that project beneficiaries are informedtimely on the project activities, and are invited to provide feedback for furtherimprovement.In contrast, project activities implemented without (adequate) public consultationmay lead to undesired counter-actions (e.g. opposition or blockage of works,theft, delays, cost increases, penalties), social disturbance and eventual crime.With proper and timely consultation, initial opposition to a project may betransferred into constructive participation. In addition, providing continualinformation on the project and, at the same time, asking the public forconstructive suggestions will eventually make the local communities ready to feelthe ownership and support the beneficial aspects of the project.April 2007 Chapter 5-7